Positively-fed disk graphophone.



T. H. MACDONALD. `Poslfmrml PED DISK GRAPHOPHONB.

APPIUATION FILED JAN. 8. 1909.

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Lu/1o www T. H. MACDUNALD.

POSITIVBLY PED DISK GRAPHOPHONE.

APPLIGATION FILED JAN. B, 1909.

Paten'm d Nov. 14 1911.

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UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.'

THOMAS H. MACDONALD, 0F BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGI OB. T0 AMERICAN GRAPHOPHONE COMPANY, 0F BBIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION 0F WEST VIRGIN IA.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Application led January B, 1909. Serial No. 471,382.

phones, which improvement is fully set orth 1n the following specification.

This invention relates to talking-machines a sound-record in the form of a employin preferably having the recorddis an I groove of the upanddown type rather than of the usual zi zag type.

The object 0% the invention is to provide, for such talking-machine, positive meansfor feeding the sound-box across the face of the record-disk.

Another obiect is to permit the use of a disk sound-record having double, or more than, the usual numberof convolutions to the inch.

With the ordinary form of disk sound- `record, Where the record-groove is of the so-called zi zag type, of substantially uniform dept the side walls of the groove serve to propel or feed the. sound-box, be'- sides vibrating the stylus and its da hragm;

but a record-groove ofthe vertical y undulatory type, with varyingdepth, owing to the comparative shallowness of the groove, and the comparatively gentle slope of lits side Walls, would not suffice to feedV the sound-box with certaint Again, by providing a positive feed, t e machine may be employed, with a suitable recording-stylus,

for making the original `recordings upon a tablet of suitablematerial; and such recording-sty1us may be mounted to vibrate either longitudinally of its axis (to and from the tab et) or laterally, to produce either the vertically-'undulatin lating type of soun -record.

One 'feature of the invention consists of providing a `spiral thread or feed-screw beneath the turn-table that carries the disk record, and concentric therewith, and in cooperation 4with said screw a vuide in on 'an arm connected tothe soundox, w ereby the` feed-screw will propel the sound-box (substantially radially) across ythe face of ltheoreco'rd-dlsk.

Another feature of the invention consists in locating the spiral feed-screw'upon an inor the laterally undu-4 Ix'of the sound-recor lswiveled in a dependln comparatively coarse it 3h, while providing reductiongearing w e1 eby the comparatively-slow rotation of the oomparatlvelycoarse feed-screw will :"eed the sound-box at the pro er rate across he face of a recorddisk provided with a omparatively-large number of convolutions )er inch.

Still another feature o the invention consists of means for diseng; ging the reproducing-stylus' from the rec( rdove, and for disengaging the feed-arn rom the spiral' feed-screw; the two actio 1s being preferably performed simultaneous] y.

The invention consists of one or more or of all of the for oin fl iatures, and also of the various detai s o ctnstruction and arrangement to be hereinaf ier pointed out and claimed.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the annexed lrawing's that illus trate a preferred embmiment thereof applied to a machine carrfing a disk record whose record-groove is of the verticallyundulatory type.

In the drawings, Fig lre 1 is a vertical section through a portici, of a disk graphol phone, illustrating a preferred embodiment of my invention; Fi 2 is a plan view of the same, partly bro en away; and Fig. 3 is a detail, viewed from he left in Fig. 2.

Referring to'the drawings, 1 represents the bo'x or casing of the graphophone, containing any standard m tor, either spring or electric (not shown). i v

2 is the vertical turnable shaft rotated by the motor, hereinafte.- termed the main Patenu u Nov. 14, 1911.

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shaft; upon the upper en i of this is mount- 4the bracket 5 to swing in a horlzontal plane only; and it carries ngidly at its free` smaller end the sound-l ox '4 8, havingl the horizontal diaphraagm 9 i arallelto the face 4, vertical pin 10 is tube secured near the free outer end of t e"arm 7; and the front portion of this tube is' out away to re ceive the yoke 11 that is secured to the pin.

The fioating-weig'ht 12 has a square hole,

zontal pivot-pin 13, so as to swing :to and from the diaphragm 9, its play being limited by the usual pin and staple at its free outer end. A spring 13 forces the weight l2 downward. The reproducing-stylus 14 iscarried on a lever that is pivoted to this lioating-weight, the other end of said lever.

permits spring 27 to force the guide-pin being connected to the center of thev diaphragm by a link that passes through Ian aperture in the weight 12. The rear 15 of the floating-weight extends beyond its pivot 1,3. By means of swivel l0 and pivot 13, the floating-weight and its stylus have slight lateral play as well as vertical swing.

16 is a sleeve mounted on the main shaft 2 and freely revolving independently thereof; and 17 is a horizontal metal disk fast on sleeve 16, located beneath turn-table 3 and provided at 18, preferably on its lower face, with a spiral screw-thread whose pitch is forty (40) to the inch. It will be understood that this inverted spiral thread or feed-screw 18 is concentric with the convolutions of the record-groove of the disk 4.

19 is an arbor mounted parallel to the main shaft 2; and upon it turns the gear 20 in mesh with gear 2l fast on main shaft 2, while pinion 22 carried by gear 2() is in mesh with gear 23 on the sleeve 16. The

reduction in speed from gear 21 to gear 20, and then from pinion 22 to gear 23 is five (5); so that the turnstable 3 and soundrecord 4 will make ve (5) revolutions to one 1) revolution by the feed-screw-disk 17. t will be understood, of course, that the figures forty (40) to the inch for the spiral feed-screw, two-hundred (200) to the inch for the convolutions of the recordgroove, and five (5) for the reductiongear mg, are merely for the sake of illustration,

and that this ratio may be varied as desired.

From a Apoint near the center ofthehollow arm 7 1s the depending portion-24, and in a slot in the bottom thereof is pivoted the substantially-U-shaped lever 25, that lies in the same vertical plane with hollow arm 7 g the lower and longer member of this lever carries the guide-pin 26, adapted to engage in the inverted spiral feed-screw 18, preferably about opposite stylus 13. A spring 27, seated in the portion 24, tends to depress the heel 0f the lever 25, and thereby holds the guide-pin 26 in engagement with the feedlscrew 18. The upper member 28 of the lever 25 terminates Just above the heel- 15 of the floating-weight, so that when the guide-pin 26 is forced out of engagement "with the feed-screw by swinging lever 25 downward, then the member 28 will depress the heel of the lioating-weight and swin the main portion of th eweight upwar 26 into engagement with feed-screw 18, while the upper member 28 permits the stylus 14 to enter the record-groove on disk 4; but when the handle of the cam-lever is moved into the position 32, then the guidepin 26is forced out of engagement with the feed-screw,- and simultaneously the arm 28 causes the stylus 14 to be disengaged from the sound-record. Preferably the beginning of the record-groove of disk 4 will be near its center, and the sound-box and stylus will be fed from the center outward; so that by merely moving the cam-lever to 'the position 32, and swinging the arm 7 against the stop 31, and then-restoring lever 29, the machine is,in proper position to begin the audible reproduction of a sound-record.

When the record-disk 4 is of the ordinary zigzag type, the stylus 14 will be carried on an elbow lever mounted upon the floatingweight 12, transversely of the record-groove, so as to transform the lateral or zigzag vibration of the stylus to vertical vibrations anism could be otherwise adapted to a vertically-arranged diaphragm, without departing in any case from the spirit of my invention.

so as to have horizontal movement only; but this arm could be secured by a universal joint, in which case instead of the cam-lever on the arm 7, a horizontal rock-shaft would be mounted upon a stationary bearing on the casing 1, to co-act with the lower member of the lever 25, 0r some other modification could be employed for engagi'ngand disengaging the stylus and the guide-pin respectively.

While I have shown' and described an inverted feed-screw, that is, one whose spiral threads 18 are u on the under faceof the disk 17, yet the eed-screw need not be in- I have shown the hollow arm 7 as pivoted 'of the horizontal diaphragm; or the mechverted, but may lie upon, the upper face of a suitably-rotated disk independent of the turn-table; in which case the upper member 28 may extend past pivot 13, or other obvious modifications -may be made, in order to engage or disengage simultaneously the stylus and record-groove and the guide-pin and feed-screw respectively.

of clearness, since parts of my invention ma be used t0 the exclusion of other parts, an changes may be made in the construction and arran ement of artsz without departing from t e spirit o the mvention.

Havlng thus described my invention, I claim: A

1. In a disk graphophone, the combination with fthe verticali main shaft and its turn-table adapted to carry a disk soundrecord, the horizontal swinging-'arm carrying a sound-box, a oating'weight pivoted upon said sound-box, and the stylus carried thereby and adapted to engage said soundrecord, of an independently on said main shaft beneath said turn-table and presenting on its lower face a spiral thread or feed-screw reductiongearing between saidmain shaft and feed-disk, a vertcally-swinging U-shaped lever carried by said swinging arm and having one member extending beneath said feed-screw, a guidepin carried by said member and adapted to engage said feed-screw, the other member of said lever extending above the rear extension of said floating weight, aspring forcing said lever upward to engage said guideinand feed-screw and said stylus and soun -record respectively, and a cam-lever adapted to depress said U haped lever and thereby disengage said parts. n

2. In a disk gra hophone, the combination with the evolu le turn-table adapted to carry a disk sound-record, the swinging arm carrying the sound-box, a floating weight pivoted on said sound-box, and a stylus 'carried by said floating weight and adapted to engage said sound-record, of an inverted splral thread or feed-screw beneath said turn-table, a vertically-swinging U-shaped lever carried by said swinging arm and having its members adjacent said feed-screw and floating weight respectively, and means for moving said lever upward and down- Wardy respectively4 for engaging or disengaging said guide-pin andfeed-screw and said stylus and sound-record.

3. In a" disk graphophone, the combination with the turn-table, the swinging arm and sound-box, and a floating weight carried b said sound-box and carrying thestylus, o a lever carried by said swinging arm and extending over the rear extension of said fioating weight, and means for moving said lever up or down for lowering or raising saidl Boating weight and thereby engagingor disengaging sald stylus and the sound-record.

4. In a disk graphophone, the combination withlthe'turn-table adapted to carry a disk sound-record having,"A a spiral recordgroove thereon, the uswinging arm carrying the sound-box at its free-end, and the `sty-` y position.

revoluble disk llus mounted on saidl` sounc -box and adapted to engage the said `record groove, of an 1nverted spiral feed-screw whose thread is concentric with the confolutions of said sound-record, means acti ated thereby for propellin said sound-box and stylus, and a lever an suitable conne :tions for simultaneously lacing the fee -mechanism and the repro ucer into and outn of operative 5. In a disk grapho hone, the combination of a horizontal u1u-table, an `arml swinging horizontally abvve the same and carrying at its free end a horizontal diaphragm, a oating-weig at pivoted cupon said arm and carryin a stylus connected to `said diaphragm an adapted to engage the record-groove of a dis l record upon said `turn-table, an inverted sj iral feed-screw, a

U-shaped member pivote(l on said arm and carrymg at one end a glide-pin engag' said feed-screw, the o her end thereo adapted tovr'aise said 111 ating-weight and stylus, and means `for rzising or lowering said U-shaped member.-

6. In a disk graphoph one, the'combination of a horizontal tt rn-table, an arm swinging horizontally ab ove the same and carrying at its free. end a horizontal diaphragm,` a floating-weig ht pivoted upon said, arm andy extending orwardly beneath said diaphragm and real wardly beyond its pivot, a stylus pivotally mounted on said floating-welght and conr ected tosaid diaphragm and ada ted to engage the recordgroove ,of a dis recorcl upon 'said turntable, an inverted splral feed-screw, a U-\ shaped member pivoted on said `arm to swing vertically, a guide pin carried on `the lower member thereof and engaging said feed-screw, the other en(v of said U-shaped member extending abovf the rearward extension of'said loatin -'veight, and means for swinging said mem upward or downwardto engage vor diseng a e the stylus and record-groove Aand the gli e-pin and feedscrew respectively.

7 In a disk talking-1r achine, the combination of the horizont al turn-table, the. horizontal swinging arrr carrying thediaphragn and its free en l above said turntable, the Heating-weigh; mounted to have up-and-dow'n movement between the said diaphragm and turn-ta ble and provided wit lateral 4pla the stylus pivotally mounted upon sai floati lg-weight and havv ing connection -with said diaphragm, a levei'" i' mounted upon said s'win; gingarm and operating to raise said floati ig-weight and sty-. lus, and means normally holding said lever from said o eration.

8. In a dlsk talking-nachm@ thecombination with the turn-tabl e and the Swingin arm mounted to travelra :ross tlie same and a diaphragm carried by maid arm, of a positive spiral feed-screw, a oating-weight carried by said arm, a stylus-leirer pivoted on said floating-Weight'l and connected to\ a stylus on. said stylus-lea guide for engaging said feed-screw and Y at the other end acting upon said floatingweight, and means for shifting saidyleverv to engage or disengage said stylus and the sound-record land the said guidey and feedsorew respectively. In testlmony whereof I have slgned thls specification in `the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

THOMAS H. MACDONALD. Witnesses:

H. B. KEOUGH,

L. B.N1GHoLsoN. 

